Create an .ics file in seconds
Fill in your event details and download a calendar file that opens in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook. Free, no signup.
Before you send that file
An .ics attachment fails on a lot of phones, and it is frozen the moment you send it. The builder on our homepage gives you one link that adds the event in a single tap on any calendar, updates for everyone if the time changes, and tells you how many people actually added it.
Includes 10 events a month and 50 RSVPs per event at no cost. The free tool below still works if you just need the raw output.
How to create an ICS file
An ICS file is the standard way to hand a calendar event to someone else. Fill in the form above and you get a valid, RFC 5545 compliant file straight away. No account, no watermark, no email required.
- Title: shown as the event name in the calendar.
- Start and end: tick all day for events without a specific time.
- Location: a physical address or a meeting link.
- Description: agenda, joining instructions, anything attendees need.
Now the honest part: .ics files fail a lot
We build calendar software for a living, so we would rather tell you this up front than let you find out after your event underfills. A downloadable file is the right answer when someone specifically asked you for one. If you are sending an event to an audience, it is usually the wrong tool, for reasons that have nothing to do with your file being correct.
1. On phones, the download often just fails
iPhones running iOS 17 or older cannot reliably download an .ics attachment at all. Open your email inside the Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp in-app browser, or in Chrome or Firefox on iOS, and the file frequently does nothing when tapped. This is not a rare edge case, it is a large share of the people you email. We know the exact list because AddCal detects these browsers and routes around them.
2. The file is frozen the moment you send it
Move the event an hour later and every person who already saved it keeps the old time. There is no mechanism in the format to update an event someone has already imported, so your only option is a second email asking everyone to delete the first one.
3. You cannot see whether it worked
An attachment gives you no signal at all. You do not know how many people opened it, how many actually added the event, or which calendar apps your audience uses. You find out on the day, by counting who turned up.
4. Attachments look like spam
Bulk email with attachments gets filtered more aggressively, and cautious recipients are reluctant to open an unexpected file. A plain link carries none of that baggage.
What an add to calendar link does instead
One link, in an email, a button or a landing page. It detects the calendar the person actually uses and adds the event in a single tap, including on all the phones and in-app browsers where a file download quietly fails. Teams that switch from attachments to links typically see about 3x more people actually add the event.
- Works in Google, Apple, Outlook, Office 365 and Yahoo from the same link
- Change the time later and it updates for everyone who added it
- See clicks, adds and which calendar apps your audience uses
- Collect RSVPs on the same event, with a real attendee list
Try it without signing up
The link generator is free and needs no account, exactly like this page. A free AddCal account adds the tracking, editable events and RSVPs, with 10 events a month at no cost.
If you genuinely just needed a file, the generator above is yours, free, with no catch. See also the full comparison of links and .ics files or the ICS file viewer if you need to check what is inside one.
More free calendar tools
Common questions
Fill your next event's seats.
Starting with your first link.
Create a working calendar link in under a minute.
No credit card, no trial clock, no catch.
